Lee A. DeHihns, III
Partner
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Lee DeHihns is a member of the firm’s Environmental & Land Development Group. He is also an affiliate member of the firm’s Energy Infrastructure, Climate & Technology Group. He has practiced environmental law since 1974. He concentrates on regulatory matters and defensive litigation matters, including climate matters, corporate audits, compliance program development, debarment, white-collar criminal defense, air quality, hazardous waste, wetlands, and water quantity and quality matters for industrial and municipal clients. Lee works on many complex and high profile matters.
He was chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (SEER) 2007-2008 and is a SEER Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates 2009-2012. Mr. DeHihns was ranked as a leading environmental lawyer in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2006-2009). He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers magazine. He is an author on the topics of water quality and quantity, corporate environmental responsibility, citizen suits, sustainable development, and climate change.
Lee DeHihns is a member of the firm’s Environmental & Land Development Group. He is also an affiliate member of the firm’s Energy Infrastructure, Climate & Technology Group. He has practiced environmental law since 1974. He concentrates on regulatory matters and defensive litigation matters, including climate matters, corporate audits, compliance program development, debarment, white-collar criminal defense, air quality, hazardous waste, wetlands, and water quantity and quality matters for industrial and municipal clients. Lee works on many complex and high profile matters.
He was chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (SEER) 2007-2008 and is a SEER Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates 2009-2012. Mr. DeHihns was ranked as a leading environmental lawyer in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2006-2009). He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers magazine. He is an author on the topics of water quality and quantity, corporate environmental responsibility, citizen suits, sustainable development, and climate change. He is a frequent speaker to professional organizations and universities, including the American Bar Association and the State Bar of Georgia. His article Climate and the Courts appeared in the January/February 2008 issue of ELI’s Environmental Forum and he was one of only nine leading environmental lawyers chosen to contribute to the article In the Year 2049: What Will Environmental Protection Be Like 40 Years From Now?, which appeared in the November/December 2009 issue of ELI’s Environmental Forum.
He is counsel for the City of Columbus, Georgia in the ongoing Tri-States Water Rights litigation involving the States of Georgia, Alabama, Florida and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where the sustainable future of Georgia is in serious jeopardy. He successfully represented a corporation in defeating class certification in an Alabama federal court case involving allegations of air pollution crossing interstate boundaries. He successfully represented the City (GMA) and County’s (ACCG) representative organizations as amicus parties in federal court in Georgia in one of the most important water quality cases in the country.
Lee joined Alston & Bird in 1990 after serving four years as deputy regional administrator of USEPA Region 4, the agency's senior career position in the Southeast. His career began with USEPA in 1974 in Washington, D.C., where he rose to the position of associate general counsel. Lee received a Senior Executive Service Meritorious Rank Award from President Bush in 1989. He is on the Board of Trustees of Marywood University 2009-2012.

- Counsel for Decatur Utilities, Alabama and Dalton Utilities, Georgia in managing under USEPA oversight the issues associated with biosolids contaminated with PFOA and PFOS, which are found in the blood stream of most of the U.S. population. The chemicals are used in over 1000 consumer products, such as microwave popcorn bags and stain resistant carpet and fabric.
- Counsel for Gwinnett County, Georgia, in litigation challenging the County’s NPDES permit to discharge highly treated effluent into Lake Lanier. This case is the highest profile wastewater litigation in Georgia.
- Counsel to municipalities and companies in defending governmental enforcement actions and defending challenges to clients’ permits and business activities pursued by citizens and environmental groups.
- Counsel to a Fortune 100 forest products company in gaining approval from USEPA for a Project XL proposal to develop a regulatory structure that facilitated flexible manufacturing operations and achieves superior environmental performance at a substantial cost savings to the company.
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June 11, 2010
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March 31, 2010
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October 26, 2009
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June 17, 2010
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April 2, 2009
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May 15-16, 2008
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February 11, 2010
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November/December 2009
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Fall 2009
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